Enshrined Cross

Despite its horseshoe shape, this symbol represents a halo or light, like the rainbow after the storm of living in this world.

An enshrined cross atop a Christian tomb in Okinawa.

Another interpretation is that the hoop represents a grotto, like the tomb used for Jesus' body after His crucifixion. It is an empty cross showing that Jesus rose from the grave.

To enshrine simply means to encase or to put in a reliquary (shrine is from the Old English scrin: 'a box for relics'). The act of enshrining something doesn't make that object more holy; it is just showing that we acknowledge it is holy.

As any shop window dresser knows, drawing a box around something gives more visual focus to that thing. Enshrining a cross brings focus to the cross.